ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN
ROYAL CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
POSITION DESCRIPTION
1. JOB IDENTIFICATION:
1.1
Position Title:
Director (Academic Affairs)
1.2
Position Level:
EX3
1.3
Major Group:
Executive Services Group
1.4
Sub-Group:
Executive Services
1.5
Job Code No.:
05.340.17
1.6
Job Location: (Complete as appropriate):
Ministry: ____________; Department: ___________; Division: ___________;
Section: ______________; Unit: _______________.
1.7
Title of First Level Supervisor (Vice Chancellor):
2. PURPOSE, DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES (Describe the purpose, duties and
responsibilities, indicating what is done and how it is done. Purpose should be a short
statement linking the position to the mission and goals of the organization and
specifying the outputs of the position. Duties should be presented in decreasing order
of percentage of time spent on them, or in order of relative importance):
Purpose: Director Academics Affairs provides direction, leadership and support for the
University’s overall enhancement of academic development, programme development,
quality assurance and enhancement, and provisions for teaching and learning across the
University.
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Duties and Responsibilities
Specific duties required of the director are to:
Academic Development
1. Establish and maintain a definition of all the programmes held
by the University.
2. Undertake needs analysis and keep it updated in order to
establish the appropriate portfolio of programmes appropriate
for the University in relation to subject and professional areas,
modes of study, level of qualification, and the nature of the
programmes.
3. Establish an academic framework including an agreed definition
of terms for the University and implement this academic
framework
4. Establish a record of University programmes.
5. Provide leadership in strategic planning for University-wide
academic programmes.
Programme Development
1. Plan and contribute to the actual development of programmes,
ensuring that the staff who develop the programmes are well
briefed and have access to the necessary guidelines, and
personal advice and development.
2. Liaise, consult and negotiate with external bodies, agencies and
partners, to ensure that programmes are developed based on the
needs, demands and relevancy of all stakeholders.
Quality Assurance
2
% of
Time
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1. Establish a system for the management of programmes.
2. Establish and operate a system for the quality assurance of
programmes, taking account of the final responsibility of the
Academic Board for the awards of the University but also the
need to delegate responsibility closer to the action.
3. Address the processes of initiating a programme, the annual
review of a programme, the periodic major review of a
programme, the removal of programmes from the University
list, the adoption programmes as leading to a University award,
and the comparison of the programmes to external models and
benchmarks.
4. Develop staff of University to self-reflectively evaluate their
programmes.
5. Monitor progress in relation to quality enhancement.
Libraries, Learning and Teaching
1. Lead to developing a policy for the libraries of the University,
and implement that policy.
2. Contribute to the development of learning and teaching policy
for the University, including provision for the improvement of
the quality, the training of staff, the incorporation of ICT in the
learning process, the strategic development of distance learning,
and of web-based learning. Implement that policy.
Student Support
1. Establish criteria for the nature and extent of the academic and
related support, learning support, careers guidance, to which
University students deserve access, and establish mechanisms to
ensure that such provision is provided.
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The Academic Board
1. Co-ordinate the development of policies related to the
Academic Board.
2. Establish the necessary standing committees and manage the
overall operation of these committees.
3. Manage the balance of responsibility between the Academic
Board and such subcommittees as the Academic Board shall
establish in the Institutes.
Other Duties
II
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1. Serve on the Academic Board, Senior Management Team,
Academic
Planning
and
Resources
Committee,
and
Programmes and Quality Committee as an ex officio member.
2. Undertake other reasonable duties as determined by the Vice
Chancellor.
3. KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRMENTS (Minimum requirement for
performance of work described (Level of Education, Knowledge, Skill and Ability):
3.1
Education: Masters
3.2
Training: Development and management of academic programmes and
affairs/tertiary education planning and management;
3.3
Length and type of practical experience required:

Minimum four years in relevant field in Position Level P1 or equivalent
experience.

Career background in tertiary education (at least five years) or equivalent
experience
3.4. Knowledge of language(s) and other specialized requirements:
Competencies:

Capacity to plan strategically at a university-wide level.
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
Ability to manage and cope with a wide range of management situations

Excellent oral and written communication skills (preferably in both
English and Dzongkha.

Ability to solve problems.

Competence to undertake and assist major and difficult decisions.
Knowledge

Sound knowledge of quality assurance, programme development and
academic support provisions in tertiary education.
Skills

A leader and manager who has the capacity to develop effective academic
strategy.

A vision of future development of the TE and the ability to make and take
opportunities.

The ability to secure external funding.

Demonstrate high interpersonal skills.

ICT literate.

Programme and project management skills.

The ability to establish effective working relationships at all levels across
the University and with outside agencies.
4. COMPLEXITY OF WORK (Describe the intricacy of tasks, steps, processes or
methods involved in work, difficulty and originality involved in work):
Policies and Procedures

Formulation of policies and procedures related to academic development,
programme development, quality assurance, teaching and learning, and student
support. This involves wide reaching consultation with member institutes as well as
reference and study of good tried practices in other universities. Eventually such
policies and procedures would be naturally evolved to suit the requirements of the
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University. This demands good understanding of the processes of the University,
high interpersonal skills and management acumen, strategic direction setting and
organized working manners

The established policies and procedures need to be implemented for the quality of
programmes and graduates. This requires effective and efficient implementation in
all institutes.
Initiation and Coordination

For a dynamic university incorporating the varied needs of learners, integrating the
changing technology towards achieving Bhutan’s needs of a knowledge society, the
University needs to keep its academic development dynamic. This requires
initiation from the VC’s Office (with Director of Academic Affair’s initiative) and
coordination of all member institutes in implementing such innovations.
Liaison and Networking

Academic and programme development of the whole university needs constant
liaison and networking with industry, employers, graduate destinations, partner
universities and accreditation agencies.
5. SCOPE AND EFFECT OF WORK (Describe the breadth of work performance, and
the effect the work has on the work of others or the functions of the organization):

The breadth of the work of the Director of Academic Affairs ranges from policy
formulation (for University Council’s approval) to interacting with students
(learning provisions) and employers (needs assessment to feed into programme
justifications).

Such work directly affects the work of the decision-making bodies of the university
(University Council, Academic Board), the heads of the member institutes, staff of
the institutes and students.
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
The Director’s work directly affects the functions of the curriculum officers,
validation teams, institute’s committees of the academic board, and overall
Academics standards of the University.
6. INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES AVAILABLE:
6.1
Instructions (Describe controls exercised over the work by the Superior; how
work is assigned, reviewed and evaluated):

The Director of Academic Affairs reports directly to the Vice Chancellor, who
assigns the job specified in the terms of responsibilities of the position.

The work of the unit (and therefore of the Director of the Academic Affairs) is
planned annually in alignment with the annual operational plan of the
University, which is approved by the University Council.

The University’s annual report to the University Council takes account of the
unit’s (and the Director’s) achievement over the year.
6.2
Guidelines (Indicate which written or unwritten guidelines are available, and the
extent to which the employees may interpret, adapt or devise new guidelines):

Royal Charter and RGOB guidelines.

University’s Strategic Plan sets out the directions of the University, and this
indicates the focus of the work of the Director.

The Annual Operational Plan of the University sets out in detail the annual
plan of the University. This directs the Director’s work for the year.

The Wheel of the Academic Law- University’s policy and guidelines on
academic development sets the framework of this position’s responsibilities

The decisions of the University Council, Academic Board (and its
committees) and the Senior Management Team guide the work and directions
of the Director of Academic Affairs
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7. WORK RELATIONSHIPS (Indicate the frequency, nature and purpose of contacts
with others within and outside the assigned organization (other than contacts with
superiors) :
VC’s Office

The Senior Management Team (SMT) in the Vice Chancellor’s Office is a
consultative and direction setting forum for the office and the University. The
Director of Academic Affairs, as member ex-officio, interacts with others
Directors and the Vice Chancellor very week.

The Director attends the monthly staff meetings in the office. This brings the
Director in contact with all members of the office, where wide ranging issues
related to office management, staff welfare, resource sharing, etc are discussed.

The Director of Academic Affairs works in tandem with the Registrar and the
Director for Planning and Resources in working out the staff and resource
requirements, staff recruitment, staff development and student numbers based
on the academic development and programme development plans of the
university. Such collaborations demand constant and on-going interactions
amongst the three units.
University-wide

The Director of Academic Affairs (although not a member) is often required to
present papers to the University Council on matters related to academic affairs
of the University. The Council meets six times a year.

As an ex-officio member of the Academic Board of the University, the Director
of Academic Affairs attends the Board’s meetings (6 times a year). This brings
the Director in contact with heads of all member institutes, academic
representatives of all member institutes as well as members from outside of the
University. The Board is the apex decision making body in the University for
Academic Matters.

The Director of Academic Affairs serves on the Academic Planning and
Resources Committee (APRC) and the Programmes and Quality Committee
(PQC) (as member secretary). These two committees meet at least four times a
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year. The representatives from member institutes and along with the external
bodies, the committees are called standing committees of the Academic Board.
APRC works on integration of academic and resource planning in support of the
University’s objectives, while the
PQC deals with university-wide issues of
educational development, quality assurance and learning resources.

The Director of Academic Affairs also directs the work of specific task forces
(for example libraries and web-based learning) towards developing universitywide policies and procedures towards supporting the teaching and learning in
the University.
Member Institutes

In consultation with member institutes, the Director of Academic Affairs
institutes development of new programmes. This brings the Director in contact
with heads of institutes, leaders of programmes, employers, donors and experts
on programme development.

The Academic Affairs unit of the office is responsible for the quality of the
programmes leading to award from the University. This is predominantly
achieved through the validation of the programmes. The Director of Academic
Affairs takes overall managerial responsibility for this. This involves
documentation, validation visits and interactions with both institute staff and
validation panel members.

Staff development at a university-wide level involves orientation of University
staff to appropriate teaching and learning situations, assessment, use of
technology and choice of learning resources. This brings the Director in contact
with various levels of staff in the member institutes of the University.
External Agencies

Initiation of new programmes and review of existing programmes are done with
support from donors. This requires project design, development and
implementation in collaboration with development partners.
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
An important component of the Director’s responsibility is initiating academic
networking with external organizations and universities. This involves contacts,
face-to-face as well as using E-mail, with various people.

Promotion of consultancy and services related to the University work also
requires Director’s initiation with external bodies.
8. SUPERVISION OVER OTHERS (Describe responsibility this position has for
supervision of other employees, including the nature of supervisory responsibilities and
categories and number of subordinates, both directly and indirectly supervised):

Direct line management responsibilities for Academic Officers (curriculum officers
in the VC’s Office) who will support the Director in carrying out the duties set out
in the above list of duties. These include assignment, delegation, training and
monitoring of specific responsibilities laid down for them.

Indirect line management include assignment, support and monitoring of tasks in
the institutes assigned to task forces, working groups and programme leaders
working on programme development, new University procedures, and innovative
teaching and learning approaches.

Indirect line management of chairs of Institute Academic Committees in the regular
management of institutes programmes, submissions of reports and review of their
programmes.

Indirect line management of Programme Board of Examiners in the institutes in
their quality assurance and enhancement efforts, with regular submissions to the
academic board.
9. JOB ENVIRONMENT (Describe physical demands required, such as walking,
standing, lifting heavy objects, etc., and/or any risks or discomforts like exposure to
hazards such as exposure to chemicals, infections, radiation, extreme weather and
other hostile working conditions):

Typical office environment.
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
Frequent travel to campuses of member institutes and attendance in meetings
(within the University and with external agencies).
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